Submersible vibratory head for consolidating concrete

ABSTRACT

A vibratory head for a concrete vibrator includes elongate structures suitable for use to consolidate uncured concrete in a horizontal or flat application.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S.Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/288,718, filed Jan. 29, 2016, whichis incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to powered concrete vibrators. Morespecifically, the present disclosure relates to concrete vibratorspowered by power tools.

Power tools come in a variety of shapes and sizes and may be used for avariety of purposes. For example, there are concrete-finishing tools(e.g., screeds, edgers, groovers, floats, consolidators) and yard tools(e.g., edgers, hedge trimmers, weed cutters), to name just a few.

Concrete vibrators are powered by rotary power units. Effectivevibration of concrete requires sufficient rotary speed to rotate avibratory element, such as an eccentric, at a rate sufficient to developvibration sufficient to consolidate concrete.

SUMMARY

The present application discloses one or more of the features recited inthe appended claims and/or the following features which, alone or in anycombination, may comprise patentable subject matter:

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a vibratorassembly for consolidating concrete comprises a power source, avibratory head driven by the power source, the vibratory head operableto generate mechanical oscillation, and a submersible elongate memberextending from the vibratory head, the elongate member transferring themechanical oscillation from the vibratory head to uncured concrete.

In some embodiments, the submersible elongate member transferring themechanical oscillation from the vibratory head to uncured concretecomprises an elongate member that extends laterally from the vibratoryhead.

In some embodiments, the submersible elongate member transferring themechanical oscillation from the vibratory head to uncured concrete issecured to a coupler securing the elongate member to the vibratory head.

In some embodiments, the submersible elongate member transferring themechanical oscillation from the vibratory head to uncured concretecomprises a pair of elongate members that extends laterally from eachside of the vibratory head.

In some embodiments, the coupler comprises a clamp that secures anelongate member to the vibratory head.

In some embodiments, the submersible elongate member transferring themechanical oscillation from the vibratory head to uncured concretefurther comprises a prong that extends from an elongate member, theprong having an a length that defines an axis, the axis of the prongintersecting the axis of the elongate member.

In some embodiments, the submersible elongate member transferring themechanical oscillation from the vibratory head to uncured concretecomprises a plurality of prongs that each extends from an elongatemember, the prongs each having an a length that defines an axis, theaxis of each prong intersecting the axis of the elongate member fromwhich the prong extends.

In some embodiments, the coupler comprises a tee-clamp that secures anelongate member to the vibratory head.

In some embodiments, the submersible elongate member transferring themechanical oscillation from the vibratory head to uncured concrete issubmergible in uncured concrete during operation.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a vibratorassembly for consolidating concrete comprises a power source, avibratory head driven by the power source, the vibratory head operableto generate mechanical oscillation, and a pair of elongate rods thatextend laterally from opposite sides of the vibratory head, the rodsbeing mechanically oscillated by the vibratory head, the rods beingconfigured to be fully submerged in uncured concrete to transfer themechanical oscillation to the uncured concrete.

In some embodiments, each rod comprises a prong that extends from therod, the prong having a length that defines an axis, the axis of theprong intersecting the axis of the elongate rod.

In some embodiments, the axis of the prong is perpendicular to the axisof the respective rod.

In some embodiments, each rod comprises a plurality of prongs thatextend from the respective rod, each prong having a length that definesan axis, the axis of each prong intersecting the axis of the elongaterod.

In some embodiments, the axis of each prong is perpendicular to the axisof the respective rod.

In some embodiments, the power source has a variable speed and isconfigured to allow a user to vary the displacement of the rods bycontrolling a speed input.

According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, a vibratorassembly for consolidating concrete comprises a vibratory headconfigured to be driven by a power source, the vibratory head operableto generate mechanical oscillation, a coupler secured to the vibratoryhead, and a pair of elongate rods secured to the coupler, the elongaterods extending laterally from opposite sides of the vibratory head, therods each having an axis, with the axis of the two rods being generallyparallel, the rods being mechanically oscillated by the vibratory head,wherein each rod comprises a plurality of prongs that extend from therespective rod, each prong having a length that defines an axis, theaxis of each prong intersecting the axis of the elongate rod.

In some embodiments, the axis of each prong is perpendicular to the axisof the respective rod the rods being configured to be fully submerged inuncured concrete to transfer the mechanical oscillation to the uncuredconcrete.

Additional features, which alone or in combination with any otherfeature(s), including those listed above and those listed in the claims,may comprise patentable subject matter and will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art upon consideration of the following detaileddescription of illustrative embodiments exemplifying the best mode ofcarrying out the invention as presently perceived.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description particularly refers to the accompanying figuresin which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tool having submergible screed rodsattached to a vibration head by a connector, the vibration headreceiving power from an engine to transfer vibration to concrete toremove air pockets in the concrete layer;

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a portion of the vibration head and thesubmergible screed rods submerged in the concrete from the right side ofthe person operating the tool;

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a portion of the vibration head and thesubmergible screed rods submerged in the concrete when reinforcing barsare present in the concrete layer from the right side of the personoperating the tool;

FIG. 4 is a side view similar to FIG. 2 showing a portion of thevibration head and the submergible screed rods submerged in the concretefrom the right side of the person operating the tool, the clampsupporting the submergible screed rods being rotated about the vibrationhead to a different orientation;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a first embodiment of a releasable crossclamp for securing the ;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the first embodiment of the clamp of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an elevation view of a second embodiment of a clamp (teeclamp);

FIG. 8 is an elevation view of a second embodiment of submergible screedrods having a prong; and

FIG. 9 is an elevation view of a third embodiment of submergible screedrods having a multiple prongs.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of theinvention, reference will now be made to one or more illustrativeembodiments shown in the drawings and specific language will be used todescribe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitationof the scope of the invention is thereby intended.

As shown in FIG. 1, a tool 10 includes a vibratory power unit 12 andsubmergible elongate members embodied as screed rods 14 coupled to thevibratory power unit 12 by a releasable clamp 16. The vibratory powerunit 12 further includes an internal combustion engine 18, a rigid shaft20, a flexible shaft 22, and a vibration head 24. The rigid shaft 20 iscoupled to the engine 18 at a proximal end 26 of the rigid shaft 20 andextends to the flexible shaft 22. The flexible shaft 22 is coupled tothe rigid shaft 20 via a connector 28 at a distal end 30 of the rigidshaft 20. The flexible shaft 22 further extends to be coupled to thevibration head 24. The vibration head 24 encloses a vibrator 32 and iscoupled to the submergible screed rods 14. Rotation is transferred fromthe engine 18 through the shafts 20, 22 to an eccentric in the vibrator32 that induces vibration as the eccentric is rotated, as is known inthe art. The vibration head 24 and the submergible screed rods 14 areconfigured to be submerged under concrete to vibrate concrete to removeair pockets formed in concrete layer. The screed rods 14 define an axis15. The speed of the engine 18 is controlled by a throttle 38, as isknown in the art. The variation of speed of engine 18 allows a user tovary the vibration imparted to the concrete. It should be understoodthat variations in the speed of the engine 18 causes variations in thespeed of rotation of the eccentric, which, in turn, causes variations inthe displacement of the screed rods 14. A user may tune the displacementof the screed rods 14 by controlling the speed, with the thickness andslump (viscosity) resisting displacement of the screed rods 14 when thetool 10 is used.

In the illustrated embodiment, the rigid shaft 20 and the flexible shaft22 are hollow cylindrical tubes support a rotating flexible shaft thatextends from the engine 18 to the vibrator 32. It should be appreciatedthat, in some embodiments, the tool 10 may include one monolithic rigidshaft or one monolithic flexible shaft instead of the rigid shaft 20 andthe flexible shaft 22.

A lever control lift handle 34 is removably coupled to the rigid shaft20 to facilitate manipulation of the tool 10 by a user. It should beappreciated that other handles may be attached to the rigid shaft 20 tofacilitate manipulation of the tool 10.

In some embodiments, the level control lift handler 34 may bepermanently attached to the rigid shaft 20.

In some embodiments, the tool 10 may further include an isolation unit(not shown) along the flexible shaft 22 between the connector 28 and thevibration head 24. In such an embodiment, the isolation unit isconfigured to reduce the vibrations experience by the user directlygrasping the tool 10. The isolation unit may also reduce vibrationsexperienced by the engine 18. The vibratory power tool having anisolation unit is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,097,384, issued Aug. 29,2006, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, andthe disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

In the illustrative embodiment, the tool 10 includes two submergiblescreed rods 14, one on each side of the vibration head 24. In someembodiments, the tool 10 may include one submergible screed rod, asshown in FIG. 7, which will be described in detail below.

In use, the vibration head 24 portion of the tool 10 and the submergiblescreed rods 14 are submerged under the concrete 40 above the ground 44as shown in FIGS. 2-4. When the engine 18 is active, the vibrator 32operates to generate vibration as is known in the art. As describedabove, vibration is then transferred to the vibration head 24 then tothe attached submergible screed rods 14. Each screed rod 14 has anelongated rod shape to increase the contact surface area with concrete40. As the submergible screed rods 14 are moved through the concrete 40parallel to the ground 44, the concrete 40 is consolidated by thevibration.

In case where the concrete 40 is poured over reinforcing bars 46, thetool 10 is placed in the concrete 40 such that the vibration head 24 andthe submergible screed rods 14 are positioned between the reinforcingbar 46 and the surface 42 as shown in FIG. 3. The submergible screedrods 14 vibrate and move through the concrete 40 parallel to thereinforcing bars 46 to consolidate the concrete 40.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the submergible screed rods 14 are attached tothe vibration head 24 via the releasable clamp 16. Specifically, asshown in FIGS. 5-6, each of the submergible screed rods 14 is attachedon each side of the vibration head 24 via a cross-clamp 116. Thecross-clamp 116 includes a central opening 118 and two chambers 120,122. A first chamber 120 is positioned opposite a second chamber 122.Each chamber having a radius for mating against an outer surface of oneend of the submergible screed rod 14 as shown in FIG. 6.

The central opening 118 has a radius bigger than a radius of thevibration head 24 and is configured to slide over the vibration head 24.The central opening 118 of the cross-clamp 116 is moveable along thevibration head 24 to position the submergible screed rods 14 relative tothe distal end 36 of the vibration head 24. An initial position of thesubmergible screed rods 14 may depend on the depth of the concrete 40and may change throughout the process because the air pockets move inthe direction from the ground 44 to the top surface 42 of the concrete.If a large volume of concrete 40 is poured at once, the weight of thedeep concrete 40 may prevent the air pockets from escaping to thesurface 42 and trap the air pockets. The submergible screed rod 14 maybe initially positioned close to the distal end 36 of the vibration head24, which will place the submergible screed rod 14 near the ground 44 totransfer vibration at the bottom portion of the concrete to facilitatethe air pockets to rise to the upper portion of the concrete. After asweep across the bottom portion of the concrete, the submergible screedrod 14 may be repositioned on the vibration head 24 such that thesubmergible screed rod 14 is in the middle portion of the concrete tofacilitate the air pockets in the middle portion to rise to the surface42.

The central opening 118 further includes a slit 124 that allows thecentral opening 118 to be tightened when a desirable position of thesubmergible screed rods 14 on the vibration head 24 is achieved. Thecross-clamp 116 is fixed by tightening bolts 126 of the slit 124. Insome embodiments, the cross-clamp may have two clamp members created bytwo slits in the central opening. Each clamp member includes a chamberto receive one end of the submergible screed rod 14. Each clamp memberis coupled to the vibration head 24 by aligning two slits and tighteningthe bolts on each slit.

In an alternative embodiment, the releasable clamp 16 may be a tee clamp216 as shown in FIG. 7. The tee clamp 216 includes two clamping members218, 220 that are coupled to the vibration head 24. Each clamping member218, 220 includes a horizontal groove and a vertical groove. Thehorizontal groove has a generally semicircular cylindrical shape and isconfigured to receive a portion of the submergible screed rod 14. Thevertical groove also has a generally semicircular cylindrical shape andis configured to receive the distal end 36 of the vibration head 24.When two clamping members 218, 220 are aligned, the submergible screedrod 14 is positioned between the two horizontal grooves of the clampingmembers 218, 220 and the rotational head 24 is positioned between thetwo vertical grooves of the clamping members 218, 220. In such anembodiment, the tool 10 includes one submergible screed rod 14 thatextends through the tee clamp 216. It should be appreciated that the teeclamp that are commonly used and known in the art, such as a socket tee,may be used.

Referring now to FIGS. 8-9, alternative embodiments of the submergiblescreed rod 114, 214 are shown. Both types of submergible screed rod 114,214 are compatible with all of the releasable clamps 16, 116, 216described above.

As shown in FIG. 8, a submergible screed rod 114 includes an elongatedrod 130 having a prong 132 extending from a free end 134 of theelongated rod 130 towards the ground 44. The opposite end 136 of theelongated rod 130 is configured to be received in one of the releasableclamp 16, 116, 216. The prong 132 defines an axis 117 that intersects anaxis 115 of the screed rod 114.

As discussed above, vibration of the concrete layer 40 from the bottomto top facilitates the removal of air pockets in the concrete layer 40.Having the downward prong 132 ensures to transfer vibration to thebottom portion of the concrete layer 40 to facilitate air pockets thatmay be otherwise trapped in the bottom of the concrete layer 40. In someembodiments, as shown in FIG. 9, a submergible screed rod 214 includesan elongated body 230 having a multiple prongs 232 projecting downwardlyfrom the elongated body 230 to the ground 44. Similarly, the multipleprongs 232 facilitate to transfer vibration more evenly throughout theconcrete layer 40. The prongs 232 each define an axis 217 thatintersects the axis 215 of the screed rod 214.

Although certain illustrative embodiments and graphical illustrationshave been described in detail above, variations and modifications existwithin the scope and spirit of this disclosure as described and asdefined in the following claims.

1. A vibrator assembly for consolidating concrete comprises a powersource, a vibratory head driven by the power source, the vibratory headoperable to generate mechanical oscillation, and a submersible elongatemember extending from the vibratory head, the elongate membertransferring the mechanical oscillation from the vibratory head touncured concrete.
 2. The vibrator assembly of claim 1, wherein thesubmersible elongate member transferring the mechanical oscillation fromthe vibratory head to uncured concrete comprises an elongate member thatextends laterally from the vibratory head.
 3. The vibrator assembly ofclaim 2, wherein the submersible elongate member transferring themechanical oscillation from the vibratory head to uncured concrete issecured to a coupler securing the elongate member to the vibratory head.4. The vibrator assembly of claim 3, wherein the submersible elongatemember transferring the mechanical oscillation from the vibratory headto uncured concrete comprises a first elongate member that extendslaterally from one side of the vibratory head.
 5. The vibrator assemblyof claim 4, wherein the submersible elongate member transferring themechanical oscillation from the vibratory head to uncured concretecomprises a pair of elongate members that extends laterally from eachside of the vibratory head.
 6. The vibrator assembly of claim 3, whereinthe coupler comprises a clamp that secures an elongate member to thevibratory head.
 7. The vibrator assembly of claim 3, wherein thesubmersible elongate member transferring the mechanical oscillation fromthe vibratory head to uncured concrete further comprises a prong thatextends from an elongate member, the prong having an a length thatdefines an axis, the axis of the prong intersecting the axis of theelongate member.
 8. The vibrator assembly of claim 7, wherein thesubmersible elongate member transferring the mechanical oscillation fromthe vibratory head to uncured concrete comprises a plurality of prongsthat each extends from an elongate member, the prongs each having an alength that defines an axis, the axis of each prong intersecting theaxis of the elongate member from which the prong extends.
 9. Thevibrator assembly of claim 8, wherein the submersible elongate membertransferring the mechanical oscillation from the vibratory head touncured concrete is submergible in uncured concrete during operation.10. The vibrator assembly of claim 3, wherein the coupler comprises atee- clamp that secures an elongate member to the vibratory head. 11.The vibrator assembly of claim 10, wherein the submersible elongatemember transferring the mechanical oscillation from the vibratory headto uncured concrete is submergible in uncured concrete during operation.12. The vibrator assembly of claim 1, wherein the submersible elongatemember transferring the mechanical oscillation from the vibratory headto uncured concrete is submergible in uncured concrete during operation.13. A vibrator assembly for consolidating concrete comprises a powersource, a vibratory head driven by the power source, the vibratory headoperable to generate mechanical oscillation, and a pair of elongate rodsthat extend laterally from opposite sides of the vibratory head, therods being mechanically oscillated by the vibratory head, the rods beingconfigured to be fully submerged in uncured concrete to transfer themechanical oscillation to the uncured concrete.
 14. The vibratorassembly of claim 13, wherein each rod comprises a prong that extendsfrom the rod, the prong having a length that defines an axis, the axisof the prong intersecting the axis of the elongate rod.
 15. The vibratorassembly of claim 14, wherein the axis of the prong is perpendicular tothe axis of the respective rod.
 16. The vibrator assembly of claim 13,wherein each rod comprises a plurality of prongs that extend from therespective rod, each prong having a length that defines an axis, theaxis of each prong intersecting the axis of the elongate rod.
 17. Thevibrator assembly of claim 16, wherein the axis of each prong isperpendicular to the axis of the respective rod.
 18. The vibratorassembly of claim 17, wherein the power source has a variable speed andis configured to allow a user to vary the displacement of the rods bycontrolling a speed input.
 19. A vibrator assembly for consolidatingconcrete comprises a vibratory head configured to be driven by a powersource, the vibratory head operable to generate mechanical oscillation,a coupler secured to the vibratory head, and a pair of elongate rodssecured to the coupler, the elongate rods extending laterally fromopposite sides of the vibratory head, the rods each having an axis, withthe axis of the two rods being generally parallel, the rods beingmechanically oscillated by the vibratory head, wherein each rodcomprises a plurality of prongs that extend from the respective rod,each prong having a length that defines an axis, the axis of each prongintersecting the axis of the elongate rod.
 20. The vibrator assembly ofclaim 19, wherein the axis of each prong is perpendicular to the axis ofthe respective rod the rods being configured to be fully submerged inuncured concrete to transfer the mechanical oscillation to the uncuredconcrete.